


After the End

by Cyber_Emblem



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23648971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyber_Emblem/pseuds/Cyber_Emblem
Summary: Here is a little something that I've said that I wanted to do for... I think it's been over a year. Here is a story that focuses on the... I'm going to call them the Fateswakening trio. In this case, however, they come from a universe where they failed to save Ylisse, and they never went back in time, instead getting teleported straight to... I'm going to call the Fates continent Corrigan (Conquest, Birthright, and Revelation). I don't know if I'm actually going to write a second part, but either way, I hope you enjoy this.
Relationships: Chrom/Olivia (Fire Emblem), Cynthia/Eudes | Owain, Felicia/Odin (Fire Emblem), Gerome/Lucina (Fire Emblem), Henry/Liz | Lissa, Lazward | Laslow/Pieri | Peri, Luna | Selena/Marx | Xander, My Unit | Reflet | Robin/Tiamo | Cordelia
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Terror

Windmire lay in ruins. As the streets blazed, Severa could just make out the ominous shape hovering in the sky above the ruined city. It was the same shape that had haunted her memory for as long as she could remember. The ominous shape of the Fell Dragon, Grima.

"Foolish child. Did you truly believe that I would allow you to run away and live with your failure. While the idea is amusing, I would much rather come to claim what is mine and lay waste to everything else."

Suddenly, Severa's left hand began to throb, and a mark on the back of her hand, almost identical to the one her father bore, began to glow ominously.

"Did you truly believe that you could use Naga's power to escape my wrath? Whatever Naga could do, I can do better. In this case, it was as simple as following the scent of my own blood. Yes, that's right child, my presence here in this land is ALL YOUR FAULT! Now... it is time that you stopped running. It is time you joined your father and sister in me. It is time... you proceeded your way into OBLIVION!" and he lunged forward.

Selena woke up screaming.

"Selena darling, whatever is the matter?" asked Camilla, who was now standing at her retainer's bedside. Selena stared at her for a moment, then lurched out of bed and ran to her patio door and looked outside. She was still in her room in Krakenburg, and the city was intact.

Selena breathed out a sigh of relief, and then, body trembling, she walked over to her spare chair and collapsed into it. She then proceeded to start sobbing. Camilla respectfully held her tongue and asked no questions. Not until her darling retainer was ready for them.

Beruka, on the other hand... "what's that on your hand?" she asked. Selena looked at her hand, only to see Grima's mark staring right back at her. She lurched backwards and widely grabbed for a knife. Camilla stepped in and seized her arm and tore the knife out of her hand once it became clear that Selena had been intending to stab her own hand with it.

"Selena darling, what's wrong? Please tell me, I can't _stand_ to have something bothering my darling retainer. So what is it? And can I kill it for you?"

Selena stared at her for a moment, then shook her head. "I... I wish that you could. But that's not... It was... I had a nightmare about my family legacy. I... there's nothing that can be done about it, and... I'd sooner forget about it than talk about it. There... there's a VERY good reason why I never talk about my past. Why none of us do..." she explained, switching from a panicked tone to a more flat one.

"Does it have something to do with that crest that just showed up on your hand?" asked Beruka.

Selena stared fearfully at her, then calmed down again. "It's... it's my family crest. And Curse. My... my late father and sister had it as well.

"Selena dear, you never told me that you had a sister." pontificated Camilla.

"I... HAD a younger sister. I... I don't talk about Morgan for a reason. Not quite for the same reason that Laslow never talks about Lucina, but... ach, it doesn't matter."

"Who's Lucina, a girl he really liked?" asked Beruka

"NO! She was _Laslow's_ older sister. And my best friend." said Selena.

"I didn't know that Laslow had a sister either." remarked Camilla.

"And I bet you didn't know that Laslow's dad was the older brother of Odin's mom either, huh?"

"No..."

"Oh... well, now you know... Can you please leave? I... I'd rather be alone right now."

Camilla regarded her silently. "Alright darling. Come Beruka. Selena needs to be alone for a while." and with that, they left the room.

* * *

Naturally, Camilla went ahead and told her brothers about her retainer's nightmare, and the information that she had let slip.

"You know, your majesty, in the past when I did my investigation on the three, I DID notice an odd mark on Odin's arm (not that he tried to hide it), and I also found an identical one on Laslow. So, I'd always figured that those two were related somehow. That or it was a tattoo for some club they were both in. I figured that they were half siblings, or something in the related case, but I guess this works just as well." remarked Niles to Leo.

"Laslow has a mark? Where? I've never seen it." remarked Xander.

"Oh, he keeps it hidden, but he couldn't hide it from me." stated Niles smugly.

Xander's jaw locked "I'll admit, I walked right into that one. I really should have known better."

"You know, sometimes in the middle of his antics, Odin sometimes just... stops. And stares out into space. Sometimes he wakes up thrashing. When I ask him about it, he says 'I've had a fell vision, so now there is much that I must do!' I've been writing that off as more of his shenanigans, but now I'm beginning to think that he's trying to hide the fact that he's been having nightmares and traumatic flashbacks." remarked Leo.

"Laslow has a tendency to be up and about late at night, then come the morning he's really tired. I always figured that he was just pulling all-nighters for his philandering exploits, and I've given him multiple warnings about it. I always figured that he was just ignoring me, but now... does he keep himself awake at night in order to avoid nightmares?"remarked Xander

Whatever the case, I think that it's quite obvious that the reason they lack a past is because they are trying to erase a terrible one. Who knows, Selena, Odin, and Laslow could all be pseudonyms that they are using in an attempt to break away." he finished.

"Lady Camilla, if I may, I have a theory." said Beruka. They gave her leave to speak "I believe that the three of them may be that is left from a purge of the nobility in a fallen kingdom."

Leo raised an eyebrow "Explain".

"Putting aside their... odd habits, I have noticed that they all show signs of having come from a 'proper upbringing'. In fact, their habits can be explained that way. Perhaps Laslow's father was at the top of the local hierarchy, after all, nobody would bat an eye at a lord's son going around town 'messing with women'. And if Odin is his cousin from lower on the hierarchy... well, he'd still be very high up, and aren't plenty of mid-ranking nobles eccentrics? As for Selena... do I need to bring up her shopping sprees? Coming from a noble family that was on good terms with theirs could help explain that. Selena DID mention offhand that Laslow's elder sister was her best friend, and I can hardly see that title going to a commoner..."

The Nohrian siblings all considered this possibility, and Beruka added one more thing. "Also, all three have a mark somewhere on their bodies. Selena called it her family crest. Hers was glowing, so maybe it's not a tattoo but something more akin to... what it is that allows you to manipulate dragon's veins. Also, their blades don't look like something a commoner would wield, and they are possessive about them..."

"That... actually sounds very plausible. We finally have something on them now. I'd like to investigate, but I get the feeling that prying is a very bad idea. Let's wait and see if they'll reveal more information on their own." declared Xander. The others agreed.

* * *

Xander happened upon Laslow one day while he was practicing his swordplay. It was... interesting, to say the least. One minute, he seemed to be performing some sort of dance routine involving a sword. Then he switched styles completely. He also began to make quips. One of them stood out to Xander in particular, as it seemed... out of character and odd. "It's time to change fate!" There was also an added level of seriousness in his voice when he said it.

And so, he approached Laslow and asked him about it.

Laslow seemed a bit startled, then he hesitated a few moments before he said in a quiet voice "It's Lucina's style. I'm trying it out. She used to say those words all the time. It was essentially her catchphrase."

"and who's Lucina? A girl you once romanced and lost?" pressed Xander, despite the fact that he knew the answer.

Laslow gave him a somewhat disgusted look. "She's my elder sister. My _late_ elder sister. I'm trying to remember her. Because all I have left of her is a scrap of cloth I keep sewn into my armor over my heart, and the Falchion."

"Oh, was that sword her personal weapon?" asked Xander curiously.

Laslow did a so-so motion with his hand. "Kinda. She was the last one to wield it before me, but it's technically a family heirloom. Supposedly, it's been passed down my family line for over 3,000 years."

"Really?" said Xander, impressed "it looks in great shape for a blade that old. I'm guessing it's got got the legend behind it."

"Oh yes, it certainly does. It's got quite the long and detailed history. Here's the short version. The king of the earth dragons went mad and attempted to wipe out humanity. His old partner, the queen of the light dragons, chose to intervene. She removed two of her fangs, and from them created a sword and a shield. The shield was given to the most powerful family on the continent at the time, and the sword fell into the hands of a warrior named Anri." he explained

"Using the sword, dubbed the Falchion, he defeated the Earth dragon king and sealed him away. Anri died childless, but the blade was given to his brother's family, and passed down from generation to generation forever more. There have been two other significant incidents in our history where it saw significant use fighting a fallen dragon."

"So why is it here, serving the prince of a foreign nation, instead of back where it belongs?"

Laslow froze and stared off into space. Silence reigned for a full minute before he said "...Because of our recent history. It... it can't serve any purpose anymore. He's still alive... everyone else isn't. I... I need to be alone." he said before abruptly turning about and walking away.

"...survivor of a failed war then. A war for survival. That... puts a new spin on those three and their eccentricities... Dammit, now I'm worried about their performance in the future. Will whatever happened to them pop up at the worst time?"

* * *

They were simply an ordinary gang of bandits, harassing a town in one of the outer provinces of Nohr. Odin was being overly dramatic as usual. "Come dark foes! Face your destiny, for the darkness that is Odin Dark shall send you into the light!" he shouted, along with a multitude of other similar proclamations.

Niles was rolling his eye in between shots, while Leo simply sighed and let things play out.

However, things took an unexpected turn when he saw a hidden sniper firing at Odin. He was so into his routine, he didn't notice the arrows whizzing just behind his back. Knowing that simply calling out to him would only make the situation worse, Leo surged forward and yanked Odin out of the way. His intention was to yank him away, snipe the sniper, and scold Odin about his attention span.

However, he mistimed it, and he got an arrow stuck in the shoulder armor covering his dominant arm, causing his spell to veer wildly due to the impact.

Odin noticed. His eyes grew as wide as saucers, and he completely lost it. "Your majesty! NO! You bastards! I'll send you all back to Hell for this!" he proclaimed, practically shrieking. Then he went absolutely berserk, dark magic was thrown **everywhere** and the bandits were annihilated within five minutes... as well as a good chunk of the surrounding property.

"Odin. What the Hell was that? It's just a shoulder wound, and not a very deep one. There is no need to freak out, it's nothing dangerous." said Leo calmly.

"Nothing dangerous? Try telling that to the Scarlet Raven, Sir Henry Corvus! You'd have a hard time doing that though, he died of an arrow to the shoulder, shielding his failure of a son. One of the finest fell mages in all the world, felled by a single arrow from a random ri-reinforcement. I will not allow such a tragedy to plague the universe. Not on my watch! _Never again..._ _"_ he added quietly.

"Oh... alright. I'll... I'll go get it checked out right away, Odin." said Leo.

"That would be for the best." said Odin in a subdued tone, before he wandered off.

After he had been gone for a few moments, Niles walked up to Leo and said "Why do I get the feeling that the 'failure of a son' he mentioned was him?"

Leo gave him a look, then softened his expression and said. "Actually... yea, that was my guess too. The way he said it... whatever happened to you when you were growing up, Odin?" he asked softly.

* * *

It had become clear as day just how vile and uncaring King Garon had become. Yet Xander was still insisting that they set an example and obey his every whim, making a speech about what their actions and behavior towards the king would affect the rest of Nohr.

The others, however, were having exactly none of it, and began railing him for his less than stellar life choices. Selena in particular was being especially aggressive, and was getting all in Xander's face about it.

"That sounds like treason, Selena." said Xander stubbornly "Father-"

"Goddammit Morgan! Could you shut up about father for one **SECOND** **and think about what he's asking of you?** **Being your father doesn't automatically make him right. He's a powerful man, not a god!** " she screamed at the top of her lungs, leaving her panting desperately afterwards.

"...Morgan? Who's Morgan?" asked Xander once he had recovered from his initial bewilderment.

Selena froze and turned deathly pale. Then, she slowly turned towards her childhood friends. They'd gone pale as well.

"You... called him Morgan... and said 'father' instead of 'your father', Selena." said Laslow slowly.

She turned even paler. "Naga help us. It's happening again. I... **NO!** After all this time, I thought that we had escaped that madness. But... _NO!_ " she said, voicing cracking "It's happening again! It... It followed us here! It's like he said, we can't escape him, he followed us here! I... I can't bear to watch this happen again!" she proclaimed, backing away from Xander slowly, tears streaming down her face. Her entire body vibrated uncontrollably, fear was written across her face and her body in bold letters.

In an instant, all of Xander's anger evaporated like water in the hottest sun. He'd never seen anything like this before. Selena had always been sarcastic, witty, and tough as leather while still remaining a consummate professional.

In all honesty, he'd always kind of liked her for that, her ability to remain the professional while showing a side of her other than absolute stoicism and not have it seem like a weakness.

But now... she was afraid. More afraid than anyone he'd ever seen before. He looked at Odin and Laslow. Their composure was not much better than hers.

Laslow was not crying, but he had a determined look in his eyes, but his body... He had his sword drawn, and it was raised against him... but it didn't register as a threat due to how violently his hands were shaking.

Odin was the most composed of the three. He stood in front of his companions, arms raised behind him, as if he was attempting to shield them with his body. His body wasn't shaking like the others, but his eyes... those eyes knew the true meaning of fear as well.

All arguments concerning the king were dropped, and everyone stared at the situation now unfolding.

"What... am I reminding you all of? What... happened to you three?" asked Xander, quietly.

"Our home... our whole world... our friends, our families, everything we ever knew and held dear and cried and sweat and bled for... died. We... what stands before you now is all that is left of the populations of two entire continents. You... You're reminding us of what happened right at the end." everyone's breath caught on what he said next.

"We were betrayed. By Selena's younger sister, Morgan. She had almost the exact same rhetoric and ideology. And because of her... everyone died." said Odin. His voice trembling, turning into a whisper as he said the final line.

"...What... is your story, you three?" asked Xander in a nervous tone.

Odin closed his eyes and sighed. And then, without opening them, he opened his mouth... and spoke.


	2. Annihilation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After several writers blocks and edits, I am finally bringing you part two of After the End. It's not quite what I wanted, but it's the best I could make it. Please keep in mind that it's been about half a decade since I actually last played the game, so my memory conflicted with what my research turned up somewhat, so I went with what I thought worked best narratively and came up with the best justifications that I could. Please chalk up any inconsistencies with the actual game to "alternate dimension". For the record, there is going to be a part three, involving giving the trio some closure, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

"Do you truly believe that this plan has any merit? If Lady Naga truly has the power to fix everything, then why hasn't she done so already? Why didn't our parents try this already?" asked Gerome incredulously.

"Gerome... I... don't really have a real answer for you. Maybe they had lost the Fire Emblem at the time, maybe they couldn't get to Mt. Prism or thought to come here, or something like that. All I know is that, there might be less than a million people left alive in all of Ylisse and we need to find some way to keep hope alive. This... This is what I could come up with." Admitted Lucina.

"So... basically your plan is to make the dangerous journey to an ancestrally holy place in the middle of demonically infested territory and pray for a miracle." said Gerome dryly.

"Please don't put it like that!" begged Lucina. "You'll cause the others to lose heart! We need the this hope!"

Gerome sighed. "You know, I hate the fact that I have to admit that you are right. I don't like the plan, but... at this point, I don't have anything better, so I might as well help you the best I can. It's better than just submitting to death."

"Don't talk like that. You make it sound you're simply resigned to keep on living for the sake of living. I can prove definitively that you do enjoy living." remarked Lucina, somewhat coyly. Gerome refused to look her in the eye.

And so, the thirteen living children of the Shepherds climbed Mt. Prism in their effort to meet with the Goddess Naga.

They had only travelled about a third of the way up the mountain when a Risen attack scattered them down different pathways. In hindsight, it was too strategic to be random. They attacked just where the path split in multiple directions, the Risen herded them, and Morgan was mostly left alone.

What resulted was Morgan was accidentally abandoned at the ambush point, and everyone else was split into groups of three. Lucina, Gerome, and Inigo; Severa, Cynthia, and Owain; Yarne, Noire, and Nah; and finally, Laurent, Kjelle, and Brady. All according to plan. (Well, the specific groupings didn't actually matter). Grima took the opportunity to make an appearance in human form and spoke to his "wayward daughter".

She had been blasting away at the Risen at quite the impressive rapid-fire rate when he said to her. "You are quite skilled. I'm quite impressed. But I suppose that Is should have expected that. After all, you _are_ my _sp_ **ecial** girl." said Grima in Robin's soothing voice.

It had been years, but Morgan could still recognize her father's face and the sound of his voice. And she hadn't caught on to the fact that he had _almost_ said "spawn", so the alarm bells hadn't quite been triggered in her head. "Daddy?" she exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Hello Morgan. It's been a while. I suppose that means we have a lot to talk about." he said, smiling warmly.

* * *

About six hours after they all had been separated, Laurent interrupted his teammates' rest with a resolute "We need to find the others."

"Well, hurray for Captain Obvious leading the way. Of course we do. But how exactly are we going to do that? We're scattered all over the face of this mountain." reacted Brady.

"You talk loudly, and we find you." said Morgan, striding into view in the cavern where they were resting.

"Great! We found Morgan. Now this piss-poor situation seems to finally be turning around! Now we just-"

Suddenly, Kjelle shoved Brady out of the way, and he tumbled to the floor. "What the Hell- **KJELLE!"** he shouted as a hole burned through her meticulously maintained armor and she collapsed to the ground. Brady immediately rushed to attend to her.

"Brady! Get her out of here! Run! I don't know if she's the real one or not, but Morgan's the enemy!" shouted Laurent as he prepared a magic spell.

"What?! Shit!" exclaimed Brady as he helped Kjelle to her feet and hobbled away.

It quickly became apparent who the superior mage was, as Laurent's offensive barely made a dent in Morgan's defensive. She walked right up to his face and smirked "You DO realize that he's carting around a dead woman, right? Not a very smart thing to do in this day and age."

Laurent's eyes widened in horror "Brady!" he shouted, too late, as at that moment, Kjelle's lance sprouted from Brady's chest. He stared at Kjelle in shock... and the Risen stared back at him and growled.

Morgan grabbed Laurent's hands. "Don't worry! Daddy says I can still play with my friends after this is all over, so I'll try not to damage you to much!" she _chirped._

_"...Daddy?_ " asked Laurent weekly, trying to grasp the sudden drastic personality change. In the moments he had left, he had the time to make one last observation.

Severa and Morgan both had birthmarks resembling the one borne by their late father. While Severa's was smaller and on her left hand, Morgan's was significantly larger and over her heart. At this proximity, he could see that Morgan's mark was glowing purple and throbbing, _even though she was wearing her typical tactician's armor._ Morgan's eyes also had a golden sheen to them. Clearly, **something** was using that mark to influence her.

However, Laurent had no time to ponder this as Morgan made lightning literally coarse through his veins, and he knew no more.

* * *

"I can't believe you two..." grumbled Inigo as they neared their destination near the top of the mountain. "How could you keep that from me?"

"You didn't need to know. I don't have to tell you about my private life, Owain and Cynthia would probably say the same thing." responded Lucina

"Let's... not speak for them. They are both... odd enough that we could be misreading their relationship." added Gerome.

"Well maybe you can ask them." remarked Inigo dryly, as he spotted them just ahead. They called out and ran forward, and so Gerome, Lucina, and Inigo were reunited with Severa, Owain, and Cynthia.

Any personal questions were forgotten as they quickly noticed what appeared to be the dilapidated entrance to a temple with an ancient carving of the Fire Emblem on it.

"So... do we wait around and see if the others are going to catch up or do we just... go in?" asked Severa.

"Time is not on our side. If we wait, we may suffer another Risen attack. While they may want to do this with us, it may be the most prudent course of action for us to do this without them." remarked Gerome.

Severa looked uncomfortable about this. "Sev? How do you feel?" asked Cynthia.

"I mean. I don't like it, but Morgan would agree that that is the most tactically sound idea." she admitted reluctantly.

And so, the six of them entered the temple of Naga and soon thereafter, Tiki appeared before them. "Greetings children." she said, smiling sadly.

"Lady Naga, you've appeared!" exclaimed Lucina excitedly "Can you help us ward away Grima?"

Tiki shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry child, but I'm not Naga. I'm her daughter, Tiki. And I don't quite have my mother's level of power. I can help you awaken your Falchion and give you a relic or three, but other than that... the best I can do is open a Dragon's Gate for you."

"A... Dragon's Gate? What sort of divine power is that?" asked Owain.

"It's a sort of... door in between dimensions. You see, reality is created by choices and chance, and because different outcomes are always a possibility, different versions of reality are constantly being born. This is true of our own reality and of completely different realities. Dragon's Gates allow for travel between these realities, even the utterly different ones. I can send you to a past version of Ylisse in order to help prevent the tragedy there, or I can help _some_ of the survivors escape, but I only have so much agency now."

"Let's... go with the past Ylisse as a last resort. For now, can you give us something to help us fight back so that we can help some of the survivors evacuate through this Dragon's Gate?" asked Lucina.

"I cannot make any guarantees, but for now, let us see if we can awaken your Falchion, if not fully, then at least partially." said Tiki.

* * *

Nah, Noire, and Yarne, at around this time, were finally nearing the exterior of the temple.

"So, do we wait for the others, or do we just go inside?" asked Nah.

"Go inside! Go inside! If we just sit out here waiting for the others, we're all going to be sitting rabbits just waiting to get killed by wandering Risen!" exclaimed Yarne fearfully.

"That is a _pretty_ valid concern you know. Considering the circumstances." declared Morgan. The trio spun around to see Morgan hovering behind them on her black pegasus, eyes glowing gold, surrounded by a purple aura and Risen. Their fallen friends front and center.

"No..." whispered Nah while Yarne absolutely flipped out.

Noire froze for a second before her medallion activated. " **To Hell with you!** " she screamed, before some nearby rocks cracked and levitated and flung themselves at Morgan.

In this world, Noire had never picked up a bow in her life, and her mother's experiments on her had been more intense, leaving her as something more akin to a black magic generator. Leaving her more of a match for Morgan than Laurent had been.

While she unleashed her might on Morgan and her squadron of Risen, Nah decided that it was up to her and Yarne to put their fallen friends down for good. Indicating her intent to Yarne, they charged in and transformed. She bit down on Brady's head and tossed him over the cliffside, sending him further away with her breath for good measure.

Yarne attacked Kjelle from the side and began to kick her rapid-fire with his powerful legs, quickly making her lose her footing, and sending her tumbling backwards. Soon, she was sent tumbling all the way down the mountain, hitting every rock on the way down with a complete lack of dignity.

Yarne was then grazed by one of Laurent's blasts, but then Nah smashed him with the back of her tail. Yarne kicked him back and Laurent was soon turned into something resembling a ping-pong ball, until Nah slammed him into the ground, where he evaporated.

This was much easier for them than it otherwise would have been, because the horde's full attention was on Noire and the field of dark magic she was generating. While it was doing a spectacular job of protecting her and destroying them, it was rapidly deteriorating.

"The power at your beck and call is actually quite impressive." said Morgan. As she dodged another large shard "But now..." she said as she repelled a large shard of rock back through Noire's left breast "that power is ours."

As Nah swooped in to try and attack Morgan directly, she swiftly pivoted and shot her down at point blank range. As Morgan began to grin smugly, she fell victim to Yarne's final ploy.

Due to the massacre of his mother and his many siblings, he feared death more than anything, but now, he knew there was no avoiding it. So now, all he could do was try to do was try to make his death count for something and go for an all or nothing attack.

He climbed as high as he could, leapt off of the cliff and kicked at Morgan. He missed Morgan herself... but hit her pegasus in the neck, snapping it in an instant. They both went tumbling down.

Morgan recovered enough to twist, launch a gigantic fireball at Yarne, and use the momentum to make it back to the cliff's edge, but Yarne and her beloved pegasus went tumbling through the sky like a blazing comet.

"...That... was harder than expected. Father... I may need some assistance with the last six." said Morgan.

* * *

"That was... interesting." remarked Tiki, once the rite had finished.

"Was that usual for the rite? My stomach felt like it was on fire!" exclaimed Lucina.

Tiki gave her a look but didn't answer the question. "Now that that is done, I have something else to show you." she revealed a back room containing four other weapons. Three were in a neat little row, a sword, a lance, and a bow. Behind them, in a pedestal of its own was-

"Another Falchion?" asked Lucina.

"Mila's. I recovered it and have kept it safe. I also recovered Mercurius, Gradivus, and Parthia." responded Tiki.

"Out of curiosity, _how_ exactly, did you keep this all safe, wouldn't Grima know about all this stuff, I mean it's legendary stuff. _I_ would've wanted it, if not to use it, then as decoration." remarked Severa.

"Grima destroyed most this place years ago. However, the Dragon's Gate here turned out to be particularly sturdy. I discovered that I was still able to access it on accident sometime later. So I simply waited for him to mostly abandon this place and moved back in. I figured he wouldn't really expect me to show up at a place he'd already annihilated and had guarded. From what I could tell, he never caught on that the gate here was intact. It took me years to restore this place to its current condition under these present circumstances regardless." explained Tiki.

"You call _this_ restored?" remarked Severa, wrinkling her nose.

Ignoring her friend's comment, Lucina walked forward and drew the second Falchion. "I feel... warm." she said.

Tiki's head jolted back in surprise. Then she tilted her head curiously. "Do... you happen to have any Valmese ancestors perchance?"

"Not that I know of." said Lucina. "Gerome's the only one here who's got any concrete ties to that continent."

Tiki closed her eyes. "...I see."

Gerome suddenly lurched forward and started grabbing the other weapons. "Inigo." he said, tossing him the Mercurius. "Cynthia." he said, tossing her the Gradivus. "Severa" and he tossed her the Parthia.

"Hey man, I know that you don't like talking about your mom, but what-" piped in Owain, but was interrupted by Tiki's sudden declaration of

"We're in danger!"

* * *

They saw the Risen forms of Noire and Nah in the crowd and immediately despaired over the fate of their missing friends.

"Maybe they missed the others and they are hiding out somewhere else." suggested Cynthia in a tone that indicated that not even she was convinced by her hopeful suggestion.

"Sadly, the only other living human I'm sensing in the region is that girl standing on the peak, but there... there is something wrong with her. She's alive but absolutely doused in Grima's taint." said Tiki, putting any doubts about the fate of their friends to rest.

Severa looked up the mountain to see what she was talking about. She paled considerably when she saw who it was. "Morgan." she said weakly. "But... why would Grima leave her alive? Why is she-" suddenly, the birthmark on her left hand began to pulsate and throb.

"Let's just say that I have a... special interest in her." said the smooth voice of Grima's human form, appearing from the shadows.

"Grima!" said Tiki angrily.

"Sir Robin!" said Lucina, shocked

"Daddy?!" said Severa alarmed.

Tiki froze and looked at the girls "Out of curiosity, what's your relationship, with the girl up there?" she asked, pointing at Morgan.

"She... she's my younger sister." said Severa breathlessly.

"I guess that does explain it then." muttered Tiki. "Well Grima, do you expect us to lie down and grovel?"

He barked out a laugh "No, I expect you to lie down and die!" and the he sent his Risen surging forward.

Tiki knowing how much was on the line and having prepared beforehand, used a portion of her power to enhance her defenses and pulled Severa to the side. Severa was, naturally beginning to second guess everything about her life, and so Tiki gave her a quick rundown of the Grimleal breeding program in an attempt to help her make sense of it all. "Quick guess, he possessed your father at some point and made things go to Hell, and is now using your blood ties in an attempt to manipulate both you and your sister. As for why he went after her first... Was your sister particularly close to your father or something? If so, Grima likely used that as leverage to help exert his influence through the brand. If she let her guard down around him significantly, that would have given him the opening he needed."

"We... can still snap her out of this, right?" asked Severa, sounding more like she was pleading than asking.

"...It's possible... but I wouldn't hedge my bets on it." stated Tiki.

"That's all I needed to hear." she said. Convincing Cynthia to give her a ride, they charged through the horde, swinging and firing away, heading up to Morgan's position. Morgan waited for them, expecting her dear sister to attempt a dialogue.

Cynthia and Severa landed a few feet away from her and dismounted. Cynthia stayed back initially while Severa cautiously walked forward.

"Morgy? Is... Is that really you?" Severa's birthmark began to resonate with Morgan's, and her head whipped around unnaturally, her eyes boring deep into Severa.

"Hey Sev. Guess what, I found daddy, and it turns out he can bring people back from the dead whenever he wants! Isn't that cool? That means we can have mom back too. You can have a proper competition with her and properly _beat_ her at something, and then we can all be one big happy family again! All we have to do anything and everything father asks of us, not a bad deal right? After all he's daddy, so why would we disobey him?"

Needless to say, Morgan sounded downright _demented_ as if her hero worship of her father had been dialed up beyond what was natural for her. And she didn't stop there. She kept spouting the same insane, twisted logic and rhetoric that Grima's influence had clearly caused her to become convinced was sane and logical.

Severa could _feel_ that twisting influence trying to twist her. She could feel the desire, the _need_ to believe in Morgan's rhetoric in her blood, quite literally. And yet, someway, somehow, after an eternity, she managed to resist.

With tears in her eyes, she declared "No, Morgan. You're wrong. Father is gone. All that is left is Grima playing marionette with his shell. Morgan... if father really wanted to revive and reunite all of us, why would he have you kill your friends first? Does that make any sense? No it doesn't. Does it make sense that he is using your fondness for him to weaponize you? Yes, it does. Use that big brain of yours and think about this whole thing tactically for a moment instead of listening to your heart. What does it tell you about this whole... whole shitty situation?"

Severa's logical argument, for a brief moment, did reach Morgan's true persona. Because despite how emotional she always got over her father, Morgan wasn't stupid, and so the logical part of her had been raging this entire time, and so for mere moments, her rational mind visibly broke through.

"Sev? Cynthia? I... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry about the others. You're right, but..." she grunted as she strained against Grima's pull. "It's... to late for me... We... know what must be done now." she said quietly, tears flowing from her eyes as Grima's influence began to retake control of her mind.

Cynthia... unfortunately didn't catch the subtlety of the moment, and thought Morgan was still attempting redemption, and just needed a little push in the right direction.

"Morgan! It's OK! We can forgive you! He's your father, of course you'd want to help him without question! We can still work things out. You just need to help us out now!" she exclaimed, rapidly approaching Morgan.

"Cynthia! Wait!" shouted Severa in an alarmed tone.

"It's OK Sev! It's OK! We're all going to be OK" insisted Cynthia, and she then proceeded to give Morgan a hug. "You're going to be alright, Morge." she whispered in her ear.

Unfortunately, that's when Grima's will completely re-exerted itself, and so Cynthia found that she got a fireball through the heart in return for her sympathy. Her body fell off of the cliff and landed on top of some Risen who were near where Owain was fighting. He cried out in despair, then pried the Gradivus from her hands (she'd still been holding it when she'd hugged Morgan), and began to swing wildly, attempting to use it as a conduit for dark magic.

As he wasn't used to handling a lance, he looked somewhat ridiculous.

Severa, meanwhile, collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

"You know that it's over now." said Morgan. "You can't claim victory from this. Why don't you just give in and join your family while you yet live? You're going to be joining us either way soon enough anyways. But father would rather have his living heirs still be... living. After all, we're more useful than Risen this way. Come on Sev, don't make this more difficult. You know what the right thing to do is here."

"I know." choked out Severa. "But I don't know if I can do it."

"I... suppose it would be difficult for you, wouldn't it? I can help you. Like you always helped me." offered Morgan, holding out her left hand. Severa reached out and grabbed it with her right, and as Morgan lifted her up, she thrust forward with her left, into Morgan's chest, leaving a jagged lightning bolt shaped dagger implanted there. It crackled with energy.

"Thank you. And goodbye." whispered Severa. She had never liked practicing with magic, that was more her father and sister's forte, but she poured all of her magic power into that dagger in an attempt to disintegrate Morgan with raw magic power, so that she was rendered unusable to Grima. She succeeded. "Goodbye... my family." she whispered to the dust floating in the wind as tears poured down her face.

* * *

Grima was _pissed off_ by the loss of Morgan, and he went on an all out assault. Lucina, bearing twin Falchions with the Fire Emblem strapped to her arm, repelled wave after wave oof Risen, but slowly but surely, they were all driven back to the temple. Finally, Grima prepared and unleashed a titanic beam of energy upon the 5 remaining children and Tiki.

Gerome snatched the Fire Emblem off of Lucina's arm, flew up into the air, and took the full brunt of the attack with the legendary shield. For several seconds, it looked as if it would hold. But then, it began to fracture, and then at the end of the attack, the legendary Fire Emblem, born by many heroes over several millennia... _shattered._

Minerva and Gerome were flung away by the concussive force of the explosion. Tiki managed to recover from her shock enough to break Gerome's fall enough that it wasn't lethal, but Minerva, however, slammed into the side of the mountain with lethal speed.

They all stood, frozen in horror as the full implications of what had just happened sank in. Tiki, for her credit, was able to sound a retreat and started to get everyone moving into the depths of the temple, but Grima capitalized on the opportunity he had been provided and sent a wave of purple spikes their way.

Tiki swiftly ducked into the temple with Gerome in tow, Severa swooped inside on Cynthia's pegasus, and Inigo, used to having to react quickly to things, dove inside.

Owain, however, was still to distraught by everything that had gone down, and Lucina had to shove him towards the entrance. But because of the added delay, they couldn't quite make it inside in time to avoid the spikes. Owain got a spike though his sword arm, and a spike angled into Lucina's abdomen. Breaking free, they ran inside.

Tiki examined their wounds. "The muscle fiber and tendons are badly damaged, you're going to have some difficulty using a sword with that arm from now on." she remarked.

Looking at Lucina's wound, she said "Not... necessarily lethal for _you_. But... _possibly_ lethal for your hopes of continuing the royal line." said Tiki, giving her a sad look.

Grima was now trying to batter down the seal that Tiki had hastily erected at the entryway.

"I don't have time to worry about that right now. If we don't do something, we won't have that kind of future." said Lucina, picking up her blades and moving for the door.

The others noticed something, most of them either turning pale upon doing so, and Severa tried to call out a warning. "Lucy, wait! The other Falchion isn't glowing anymore!" and indeed, the light in Alm's Falchion had gone out.

She had no time to process, or even register this information, as twin rows of spikes burst through the entryway and Lucina attempted to deflect them with the twin Falchion. Her original did its job just fine, but Alm's Falchion, like the Fire Emblem before it, shattered... as did the arm holding it.

" **LUCINA!"** everyone cried.

"That's enough! Don't throw away your lives so recklessly. I'm evacuating you all." declared Tiki. Inigo and Gerome helped Lucina to her feet and ran to the back of the temple where Tiki immediately began to open the Dragon's Gate.

"No time to do this properly. You'll have to go in one by one, but I'll make it so that you'll all arrive at the same exact location. The bad news is since we're in a hurry I'll have to completely randomize your destination in order to give you that level of control. Good luck and godspeed. Don't debate about it or not all of you may get away, now pick someone and go!" she ordered as the gateway flared to life.

"Severa! Go! Get away from your father's legacy! You deserve a restart the most!" said Owain suddenly. Severa gave him a shocked, teary-eyed look, and Inigo shoved her in before she could say anything. She still had the Parthia on her, but she had no time to grab Cynthia's pegasus.

As the portal swirled and Tiki concentrated and prepared for the next person, Lucina said "Owain, you're next. No arguing. Make sure he goes." she told Tiki.

As Owain protested, she gave Gerome and Inigo significant looks, and they sat down in front of her. "I don't know which of you should go after Owain, but I think we should take the time to say and do what needs to be said and done. Inigo." she said, handing him the Falchion "I'm... probably not going to get much use out of this anymore. Use this when you get wherever you're going. I'm sure that it will recognize you as its wielder. Because, despite your antics, you always were-" they heard a noise and looked to see that Owain had departed.

Lucina used his distraction to grab the Mercurius from his belt and make for the entryway and a last stand.

"Lucy wait!"

"We could very well wind up in the middle of nowhere, and my wounds aren't exactly easily treatable or easy to recover from. Who knows, wherever you're going, maybe you'll find someone who finds your flirting and Owain's antics charming, and this isn't the end of the line after all, but whatever your future holds... I hope for only the best for you, little "dancing king", she said, bringing up his childhood nickname.

Inigo tried to protest, but Gerome grabbed him and shoved him into the gate. "Lady Tiki, get him out of here."

The last thing that Inigo saw before he was whisked away to Nohr, was his one-armed sister and Gerome atop a pegasus, turning to face the human guise of the Fell Dragon striding into the room with complete and utter confidence in his victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record cut content is "opening exposition from the trio about Ylisse before the flashback". It took up about two or three pages of my notebook, and I felt it didn't match the tone the ending of the last chapter had perfectly executed, so I jumped straight into the flashback instead. I may go back to that later, or just jump to everyone's reactions. The finale will involve giving the surviving trio some closure. (Also I noticed that Owain and Inigo seemed to have very little agency/did very little for most of the chapter, plus Lucina's final interaction with Owain seemed a bit dismissive. I'm writing this here to say "yes I noticed, and I may be able to turn that into an advantage later, so I'm leaving it as is.)


	3. Closure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this ending is satisfying enough for you guys. I'll be honest enough, I kept getting writers block and it didn't turn out quite like I expected. My best justification is "I went for the more realistic route than the more narratively intuitive route". I hope you think it works well enough for the story.

Everyone was silent for several moments after Odin finished his story. "If... your homeland was annihilated and your goddess whisked you away to a distant land in order to save you, then... that would explain why we never found anything on you." said Leo quietly.

"I... noticed that you had different names in the story. Do you mind explaining?" asked Camilla.

"It... if we're being honest, it's a half-hearted attempt at distancing ourselves from who we used to be." said Laslow "In the end, Owain and Severa couldn't bring themselves to change more than a few letters. But me? I was the prince. I should have been better than this. So I left my birth name behind me. These aren't our original haircolors either, by the way. It's a random trick that Owain picked up from his dad. Dark blue hair has been dominant in my family for millennia. My sister and I both had it."

"Owain and Niles actually have the same hair color. I'm sure he _loves_ that tidbit." said Selena sardonically. "As for me, I was a platinum blonde. Morgan and mom were the redheads. But this is fine, you know. After all, red is the color of blood." she said, voice cracking.

Camilla gave her a pitying look while Xander broke his silence. "You said that I sounded like your sister. Your sister who was possessed and driven mad by a demonic dragon." said Xander flatly.

"...Yes... your highness." said Selena quietly.

" **WOW!** I've never heard a more damning thing in my life! And I've spent a good chunk of it as a rightly wanted criminal!" said Niles with sarcastic enthusiasm.

"Neither have I. And I know she means it, Selena isn't one to make comparisons like that on a whim." said Xander as he slammed Siegfried into the ground. "Talk. I'm listening now. Tell me why I should go against father."

* * *

This entire situation, alongside Corrin approaching them again claiming that there was a hidden foe escalating the conflict with the Hoshidans and providing proof helped to seal the deal, and they all turned against King Garon. The reveal that he had actually died long ago and a slime monster had been posing as their father for years eased their feelings of betrayal... yet at the same time none of the Nohrians could really decide whether it actually made their situation better or worse. None of them liked that they had been deceived for years like that, but it at the same time, the reveal made the Hoshidans a bit more inclined to be forgiving of their former enemies.

And so the trio from Ylisse got to see a desperate situation against a fallen dragon go well and _not_ go to Hell. Of course, now a new challenge came for them. Peace time. After all they had experienced, could they ever reach a state where they could feel at peace?

* * *

Both of Xander's retainers seemed to be born fighters, and observation of either of them would reveal them to be greatly disturbed individuals. So it was only natural that eventually, they would share their pain.

Peri had always liked Laslow. Not for his flirtatious attitude, but because she could sense the weight of death hovering around him, like a cloak. So, she always figured that he was like her, and that he just hid it for some unknown reason. Then she had heard his story. She hadn't said a single word at the time, because even she could sense how heavy the situation was. While a part of her had been hoping for infighting to break out, a part of her that she had long kept locked away screamed at her to keep her mouth shut and keep out of the situation.

Laslow's story... hadn't been what she had been expecting at all. It awakened in Peri... feeling she had long been trying to forget. It made her... sad. It made her cry. She didn't want to be sad or to cry, she wanted to stab those tears and make them go away!

Laslow, to his credit, HAD noticed how unusually quiet Peri had been during that entire situation and how she had suddenly begun to act even more erratic than usual. So he decided to take the direct approach. He went to her and asked her about it. And so she was forced to talk openly about something she had tried not to even think about for practically her entire life. The reason why she held so little regard for life.

Over time, Laslow helped her to learn to appreciate the value of life, a bit at a time. But this brought with it a new set of problems, and she began to view her old self as monstrous. And began to dread turning into the monster she now saw her old self as.

After some deliberation with his friends, Laslow decided to give her a big sign of trust. He gifted her with the Gradivus. He explained to her its historical significance and how it had been historically misused. He then told her to now go ahead and redeem both herself and the lance, and that he had faith that she could do it. Well, after that little stunt, the playful slayer was firmly in love with the flirty fighter, and everyone could tell.

Laslow... didn't know how to respond. After so many years of failed flirtations, and never truly expecting to find that _special someone_ due to deep seated personal issues, he had **no idea** how to deal with someone actually falling in love with him. So initially, he feigned ignorance and acted like it was business as usual. But he soon found that his heart wasn't in it. Around the time he took her to see her father in order to get some closure, thy officially became a couple.

Somehow, they actually worked very well as a couple, and at the war's end, he discovered that he wasn't going to be the end of his line anymore.

Surprisingly, this did not cause a scandal. Peri's father had gotten a basic rundown of his history and knew what he had done for his daughter, and actually quite liked Laslow, faults and all. In fact, the entire household that Peri hailed from welcomed him with open arms, though only for the fact that he managed the miracle of getting the Lady Peri to act like a sane adult in some cases. Sure, she wasn't a saint, but they would take what they could get. In the mindsets of the more old-school house members, he'd earned a right to her for that.

Of course, when Soleil was born, neither young lady was ever left alone with the servants for several reasons, but in the end, Laslow/Inigo got something resembling a stable, happy family life.

This did shock his friends somewhat. Whoever thought he'd get it so good?!

As for the other two?

Laslow had managed to get some final words of approval from Lucina, and had never actually formed any romantic attachments in Ylisse, so while Ylisse was still a painful memory for him and he'd made the biggest show of distancing himself from Ylisse, it would actually be easiest for him to move on because he didn't have so many direct failures hovering over his head. He knew Lucina's fate wasn't his fault and in a way, stopping Anakos had helped him to "make up" for failing to stop Grima.

Selena and Odin didn't have this kind of closure.

When Lucina decided to share some final words, they had been pushed away. They never talked about it, but each was wounded on an emotional level by this move. Did she hate them? They never talked about it with Laslow. They were to afraid.

Niles had only proved to rub salt in Odin's wound. "You know, I was wondering something. You never made it clear in your little story but, were you sleeping with that pegasus girl or not?" he'd asked.

Odin had glared at him "Seriously? That's what you got out of that?" he asked incredulously.

"That story implied the possibility that you out of all people might have got laid in the past, so yea, I really think it's something worth following up on." remarked Niles.

"No. We weren't doing that. We both wanted to, but we both believed in old school justice and morality, so we never did anything like that. We couldn't exactly get married in those conditions." answered Odin.

"Huh, really? Well, sucks to be you. Now you'll never know what it's like, and that's why those outdated values can go suck it." said Niles.

Out of all the- he just finished pouring his heart out to the world, and _this_ was what Niles was fixated on. So Odin had done the natural thing. He punched Niles in the face. "Ah! My good eye!"

After that whole debacle, Odin had gotten all depressed and mopey. He hadn't kept up with his usual shenanigans. He started making routine walks of the camp at night in an attempt to sooth his restlessness and reopened emotional wounds. During one of those walks, he got some new physical wounds when he bumped into Felicia carrying an armful of weaponry.

She went through her usual apology routine while Odin only paid her basic mind until he realized something. Her klutzy yet friendly demeanor? It reminded him so much of Cynthia!

He honestly _meant_ to keep that train of thought to himself, but he accidentally said part of it out loud. So this lead to a... prolonged conversation that started out very awkward but ended up cutting very deep for both of them.

Felicia, expressed that while she was flattered that he could see anything remotely resembling his lost love in her, she was nothing like a fallen hero. Leading her own personal issues with her tribe to come to the surface. She brought up how she felt isolated from her sister and from her father, and how a lot of the people around her seemed to consider her as nothing more than a bother. She always felt like the odd one out in conversations with her family and among the servants.

Odin could sympathize with her on some level "I was always the odd man out in my family. My dad wasn't exactly the most popular guy in the army. Isn't there a saying along the lines of war makes for strange bedfellows? I dunno if I made it up but if fits my situation. See, there was this dark magic prodigy from our rival nation of Plegia who's parents basically threw him out as kid. He gained an affinity for animals and went a bit mad, not quite Peri mad but close enough. He eventually defected to my country and wound up having a fling with my mother which... caused quite the stir."

Odin made a face "Many took it as simply an act of rebellion, her way of saying 'Don't you dare go calling me delicate! If I can get away with bedding this guy then that doesn't really fit me!' Heh." he rubbed the back of his head "I can tell you from experience my mother was _not_ a delicate angel. The farthest thing from it. But yea, because of that, I was something of the black sheep of the royal family. Right up to the end..."

He then reiterated to her how he had been excluded when Lucina was preparing for her final stand. "I mean, I'm the reason she got wounded so badly that she lost... did she realize the meaning of that and hate me for costing her her future? Is that why she pushed me to the side?" he asked her.

Their mutual feelings of isolation caused them to strike up a friendship. Eventually, Odin convinced Felicia to confront her sister about it. "At least you have the opportunity to do so. At least you have the opportunity to get some closure with your estranged family." he told her.

Naturally, she was incredibly pensive about the idea, but she followed through with it. At first, Flora stubbornly refused to talk about it, but thanks to some mutual friends intervening, they were eventually able to come to something of an understanding.

In return, Felicia pushed Odin into talking to Laslow about how he felt about Lucina's last act towards him. He had been Lucina's brother after all, so he would know best of all what she had been thinking. He was even more reluctant to do that than the twins had been to have their talk. But eventually, he made the time for it.

Laslow's opinion on the subject was that Lucina believed that Odin was to fixated on Cynthia's death at the time to listen to reason, and that if she let him stick around, he'd go into a suicidal charge against Grima, so it was best to get him and Severa away from him as quickly as possible so that they wouldn't throw their lives away. His interpretation was that she wanted them to live and didn't want their grief getting them killed.

"Then how do you explain Gerome? Wasn't he her lover? Wouldn't she want him to live too?" asked Odin

"Gerome... my guess is that she had to prioritize. She probably intended for Gerome to escape and she probably always intended to stay behind to die, but she wound up having less time than expected. Since Grima was breaking in just as I was getting through the portal, my guess is that he simply didn't have enough time to escape and he wasn't about to abandon her to certain doom." said Laslow.

"But then that begs the question, why didn't Grima follow us? Didn't Lady Tiki imply he could use the Dragon's Gate as well? After all, it's called a **Dragon's** Gate." remarked Odin.

"Maybe Lady Tiki did something to the gate in order to make sure that we weren't followed. Remember, there IS evidence to support that. You told me it was like floating calmly downriver on a boat, while for me, it was like being caught in the rapids. Maybe she closed the route behind me, and I was essentially being pushed by a giant wave the whole way to Nohr." theorized Laslow.

His theory was close enough. Tiki had had just enough time to use her lifeforce to blow up the gate and scramble the path she sent them down. It had resulted in Laslow being violently shot from one end to the other and the route between the two worlds being irreparably scrambled. There was no going back for them, and Grima was never getting to them again. He couldn't even figure out where she had sent them.

This conversation didn't fix everything for Odin, but it did prove to give him a sense of closure, and as a side effect, he and Felicia began to court...

* * *

Things were... awkward between Xander and Selena for a good while after their confrontation. Knowing the context behind them, he could forgive her actions, but... he had no idea how to approach her after that. The fact that the two were, on some level, attracted to each other, did not help the situation one bit.

Most of the women in Nohr fawned before him and put on acts that King Garon was known to have enjoyed (which only proved to repulse Xander). As a result, he had come to like the fact that Selena refused to act any differently in his presence. Plus, while she was proud, she didn't rub her talent in people's faces, as was the norm in Nohr. It helped her case that he could tell through observation that she had attained her level of skill through sheer force of will and hard work. He always found grit more attractive than pampering. He felt more comfortable around people with grit too. In truth he was a highly anxious person, and people like Selena felt more... real, to him.

As for how Xander seemed from Selena's point of view? While outwardly he appeared to be the perfect role-model of a prince, she knew for a fact that he really wasn't. For starters, his sense of loyalty to his king and country had a tendency to override his common sense. He had no sense of humor to speak of, and while he had attempted to hide it, she had discovered for a fact that he couldn't swim. Thus, she knew that he wasn't like her mother, he was more like herself, someone living in the shadow of "perfection", trying to desperately live up to that model. So she had always had a certain fondness for him for that reason.

They had always had, what could only be described as, a casual professional relationship with one another, but the earlier revelations cause a rift between the two, and for a while, they interacted far less.

Finally, in the middle of the Valla campaign, they had their moment. Selena was wandering about late at night, staring at the moon, rubbing a ring, and she had no official reason to be out there. Xander had guard duty that night.

After an awkward standoff, Selena finally said "It... It was Morgan's birthday today."

"Oh... I see..." said Xander.

Suddenly, Selena burst out crying, seemingly randomly, but he could tell that this had been building up for a while now. "I practically raised us both! Where did I go wrong?!"

And then all he could do was hold her awkwardly, then talk to her when she finished crying. He asked her a series of questions about her sister and her life back home, in hopes that talking about it would help her somewhat. Selena knew what he was doing. He wasn't doing it quite right, but she appreciated the effort all the same and went along with it.

"I... I could never imagine having to go through that, killing your own sister. When Corrin defected from Nohr, I worried that I might have to do just that, but thankfully, it hasn't turned out that way, but... I admire you. For the way you've been able to cope with it." said Xander.

"How I've coped?!" sniffed Selena "How can you call this coping? Look at me, I'm a mess."

"Right now because it's all been forced back to the surface. But you've been able to live with this for years now. Me... if I were to kill Camilla, or Corrin, or gods, even Elise... If I did that... I'm sure that I would have lost all fighting strength and the will to live. For being able to do that, to being able to put down your own sister and keep on living for years afterwards... To do that... you have to have a strength I've never had. You're stronger than I can ever hope to be."

"Strong- Don't be daft! You're plenty strong! Look at all the bull you have to put up with in the name of Nohr! Don't you go about thinking I don't know that you aren't the perfect prince that everyone thinks you are, Mr. I-Can't-Swim-For-The-Life-Of-Me!"

That threw Xander off, and looking for a change in subject, his eyes landed on the ring she had been playing with. "I'm not sure that I've ever seen a ring like that." he said.

She smirked "You have, I wear it all the time. Not on my finger, but the point still stands. But if you're talking about the look, you might have seen it on some of the more lovey-dovey couples. It's my mom's wedding ring. Dad got her a morganite engagement ring, and there's a moonstone in the wedding band."

"...were you girls named after your mother's wedding ring?" asked Xander asking the obvious question, bewildered.

Selena actually laughed at that. "Keep in mind that my original name was 'Severa'. But if you take my current name into account... then yea, I guess we both were. My sister actually was named after the gemstones on my mom's ring, and I actually did pick the name Selena from the moon, I didn't just switch a few letters in my name like Laslow implied. It's just a coincidence my new name happens to be so similar to my old one."

"If I may ask, where did the name 'Severa' come from? It sounds like a rather odd name to give to a child."

Selena actually rolled her eyes at the question. " _How To Make Him Fall For You In A Fortnight."_ she said derisively.

"... **What."**

She rolled her eyes again. "Mom _really_ loved her trashy romance novels, and dad indulged her. I never actually caught them in the act, thank the gods, but I'm willing to bet anything that they would roleplay scenes from those damn things when they were alone. In fact, I'm pretty damn sure that's how I was made. Why else would they name me after the main character in one of the _stupidest_ romance novels ever written? asked Selena. "Seriously, wouldn't you take the first opportunity to change your name if you discovered you were named after _smut?_ "

"...Oh." said Xander awkwardly, having absolutely no idea what to say to that. But he didn't need to say anything else. He'd done what he needed to. The floodgates had been opened and things could change now.

Then their relationship took another turn late in the campaign. One of Anakos's last tricks was a magic mist that forced them to see their worst fears made manifest. It was more a demoralizing agent than an actual weapon, it did wonders for utterly freaking everyone out. Xander saw his fate from the standard Birthright timeline, freaking out and fervently denying that reality, he broke out of that reality, rushed forward and grabbed the first person he could find, who just happened to be Selena.

This had the unforeseen side-effect of dragging him into her vision. All at once, he understood precisely why she was so utterly terrified of Grima, and of him turning out like Morgan. That... _thing_ wasn't just something to be feared. It was fear incarnate. Fear made flesh. Everyone survived the encounter, but in low spirits. Not quite what Anakos had wanted, but close enough.

The two of them wound up doing something that both had secretly wanted to do for a while. They agreed afterwards that they probably shouldn't have, but neither wanted to outright call it a mistake. They were clearly going to have to have a serious talk about the status of their relationship when all was said and done.

When all _was_ said and done... they discovered that their actions were going to bear them consequences... in a matter of months. Selena was pregnant.

The idea... both excited and utterly terrified the both of them. Conceiving a child out of wedlock brought to Xander's mind his father and his glut of concubines. An image he didn't want to come close to invoking. Due to the fact she came from another world entirely and they couldn't exactly share that information publicly, she technically didn't have a family or a reputable history. This might make a marriage difficult or even impossible.

For her, her concern was... what if it was born with the brand she had? They would be carrying on the family curse, and in high places. Yet... what if they didn't? A part of her dreamed that Xander's bloodline and this being an entirely different world made that the case. There was also the fact she was completely fixated on the fact that she... had made a life. Ever since she had discovered what her family really was and what it represented, she'd only ever seen herself as a harbinger of death and destruction, who'd only ever consume pretty things without making any of her own. But now... she had made... a life. A beautiful thing that meant something. Did that mean that she wasn't as cursed as she thought she was?

In the end, it caused a bit of a scandal, here all the court ladies had been vying for Lord Xander's attention for years to no avail, and then here he goes siring a bastard through his sister's retainer. At least it was just the one woman and he seemed to be treating it differently than his father would have. Of course, this opened the can of worms of other woman trying to claim their children were his and it being a somewhat more believable lie in the eyes of the public.

There were several who didn't like his choice to marry this woman, but due to the more draconian stance on kingship Garon had taken in his "later" years, Xander getting his way did not prove nearly as difficult as he thought it would. Neither was putting his foot down on any assassination plots. At least Garon had left _something_ good behind.

Selena was starstruck when her son was born without her brand, and by all accounts she was a very dedicated, very involved mother. (He was the apple of her eye). Later, the general consensus was that she did a fairly good job at rearing Nohr's heirs for someone of unknown origins. As for her tenure as queen... the politically correct and duplicitous hated her, but everyone else loved her for how direct she was and how she absolutely would not accept any nonsense in her presence.

* * *

So, in the end, the fallen trio were able to rise again and move beyond the tragedy they had come from and live happy, fulfilling lives and rear families of their own in the land of Nohr.


End file.
